Combined guide and support for band saws



Mar. 3. ma

4 1,528,592 C. G. WILDERSON COIBINEDQUIDE AND SUPPORT FOR BAND SAWS V Filed Oct. 10, 1923 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Mar. 3. 1925. I 1,528,592

. g. s. WILDERSON GOIBI'NED GUIDEAND SUPPORT FOR BAND SAWS Filed Oct. 10, 1923 2 Shoets-Shet 2 Q A H J2 .34 I l 16 ghw 7 Zgf Patented Mar. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATEfi l,528,592 PATENT OFFICE.

CLINTON Gr. WILDEB-SON', OFLEE'IONIA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO; THE CRESCENT MACHINE GQMPANY, F LEETONIA, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF COMBINED GUIIDE AND SUPEOBT F03 BAND SAWS.

Application filed, October 10, 1923, Serial No. 667,659.

T 0 all whom it may concern: a 1

Be it known that I, CLINTON G. VVILDER- son, citizen of the United States, residing at Leetonia, in the county of Columbiana 5 and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Combined Guides and Supports for Band Saws, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact, description,

band saws and more, particularly to band saw guides and supports. At the present time there is a decided tendency in the art to increase the speed of operation of band saws, as at the higher speeds a greater number of teeth per unit of time is brought into. operative engagement with the material being cut, thereby making it unnecessary to force the material against the saw blade. It will be apparent that this minimizes the danger of breakage, by reason of the fact that the strain on the blade and the heating thereof are greatly reduced.

A considerable difiiculty, however, in connection with the operation of band saws at these higher speeds has heretofore been encountered, due to the failure to provide a form of guide and support of such construction as to, operate freely and satisfactorily for a length of time justifying the expense thereof,

By the present invention there is provided: a combined guide and support, one of which is adapted to; be used at some desired point below the work table and the other at a suitable pointabove it, and comprising a rotatable backing wheel adjustably mounted and carried on ball hearings in such a manner that it may easily operate at the desired speed without injury thereto.

A further feature of the, invention is the provision of a construction of this character in which the bearing parts of the backing wheel are shielded against the penetration of sawdust, dirt, grit or, the like theretoi Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a novel construction and arrangement of the backing wheel.

In the accompanying drawings, there is showmfor purposes of illustration only, one embodiment of my invention, it being understood that the drawings do not define the limits of the invention, as, changes may be made. in the construction therein disclosed The present invention relates broadly to without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of my broader claims.

In the drawings: 7 Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a combined guide and support embodying my invention Figure :2 is a sectional view on the line II+II of Figure 1;

adapted to be clamped on said stud by means of a set screw 6, V Said frame 2 is provided with integral parallel arms 7 upon which a pair of guide blocks 8, preferably of hardened steel, are detachably mounted by means of screws 9, the heads of the screws being countersunk beneath the faces of the blocks, and the guiding faces of the latter being positioned in the same vertical plane.

Cooperating with the guide blocks 8 is a second pair of similar guide blocks 10 detachably mounted, by means of screws 11, upon a member 12, which is slidably mounted between flanges 13 of the frame and adjustable to move the blocks 10 towards and from the blocks 8 by means of a screw 1d having a knurled head 15, said screw being journaled in the member 12 and being threaded into a bore in the frame. The member 12 is provided with a slot 16 through which extends a screw 17 threaded into a bore in the frame, a washer 18 being carried by said screw between the head thereof and the member 12. It will be obvious that the screw 17 andwasher 18 constitute means for clamping the member 12 in any desired adjusted position and for holding said a member against separation from the frame,

, Fitted in a bore in the frame 2 and held in adjusted position therein by means of a set screw 19 is a'tubular member20. A shaft 21 is journaled in the member 20 upon ball be rlilie v 2 am. 23 nt in pp t s f sai tubular member, e latter being le sed a end o re ei e th bearing 22 and having an 24.: screwed, HPQ

larged end to hold said bearing 22 in position. A sleeve 25 surrounds the shaft 21 between the bearings 22 and 28 and holds them properly spaced apart. The shaft 21 has an enlarged portion 26 adjacent the bearing 22 and a .nut 27 threaded on the other end of the shaft 21 serves to clamp the bearing 22 between one end of the sleeve and the enlarged portion 28 and the hearing 23 between the other end of said sleeve and said nut. For closing the small end of the tubular member 20 a cap 28 is provided, said cap being threaded into said end.

The shaft 21 is provided beyond the enlarged portion 26 thereof with a tapered portion 29 and the end of said shaft be yond said tapered portion is screw threaded to receive a nut 80. Mounted on said tapered portion of the shaft and clamped in position thereon by the nut 30 is a backing wheel 31, the hub portion 32 of which is offset outwardly from the plane of the wheel to provide a recess 33 for the reception of the enlarged portion of the tubular member 20 and the cap 24. The backing wheel is provided with an outwardly directed peripheral flange 3st and said wheel is so positioned with respect to the guide blocks 8 and 10 that the edge of said flange engages two separated portions of the rear edge of the run 35 of a band saw positioned between said guide blocks, thereby providing clearance between the intermediate portion of said rear edge and the edge of said peripheral flange.

The tubular member 20 is provided with an opening 86, whereby the bearings of said shaft are supplied with a suitable lubricant. Normally the opening 36 is closed by the frame, as will be apparent upon reference to Figure 2 of the drawings, so that sawdust, dirt or the like cannot gain entrance to the interior of the tubular member. When it is desired to supply lubricant to the bearings, it is merely necessary to loosen the set screw 19 holding the tubular member 20 in position and to move said tubular mem ber longitudinally so as to uncover said opening.

It will be noted that the bearing 22 is larger than the bearing -13. The reason for this difference in sizes is that the saw blade in pressing against the edge of the backing wheel at one side of the axis of said wheel tends to swing the shaft 21 about the bearing 22, thereby exerting compression upon the bearing 23. The bearing 28 is placed in the most advantageous position for taking this compressive strain, namely, at the end of the shaft remote from the backing wheel. Since the bearing 23 is only required to sustain this compressive stress, whereas the bearing 22 is required to act as a thrust bearing, the latter is made larger than the bearing 16.

By closing the small end of the tubular member 20 by means of the cap 28 and housing the enlarged end of said member within a recess in the hub portion of the backing wheel, it will be seen that the bearing parts of the backing wheel are completely protected against the entrance thereto of saw dust or other undesirable matter. Consequently there will be a minimum amount of wear upon these bearing parts.

The advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. By the provision of a backing wheel supported for rotation upon rolling bearings which are protected against injury from sawdust and the like, the band saw may be rotated at the desired high speed and the backing wheel will afford a freely rotatable support for said saw at such speed. Further, by so arranging the backing wheel with respect to the guide blocks that the run of the band saw crosses the edge of the flange of said wheel so that said edge engages two spaced portions of the rear edge of said run, the tendency of the blade to wear a shoulder on the edge face of the flange is avoided. This is important because when such a shoulder is formed, serious trouble is apt to be caused, due to bend ing and twisting of the blade.

I claim:

1. A combined guide and support for band saws, comprising a frame, means carried by said frame for guiding the run of a band saw, a backing wheel for engaging the rear edge of said saw, and means carried by said frame for rotatably supporting said wheel, comprising a tubular member mounted in the frame and having one end thereof enlarged, a shaft within said tubular member, a ball bearing for said shaft in said enlarged end of said tubular member and a second ball bearing for said shaft in the other end of said tubular member, said shaft projecting at one end beyond the en larged end of said tubular member and having said wheel mounted upon said projecting end, said wheel having a hub portion provided with a recess to receive said enlarged end of said tubular member, substantially as described.

2. A combined guide and support for band saws, comprising a frame, means carried by said frame for guiding the run of a band saw, a backing wheel for engaging the rear edge of said saw, and means carried by said frame for rotatably supporting said wheel, comprising a tubular member mounted in the frame and having one end thereof enlarged, a shaft within said tubular member, an anti-friction thrust bearing for said shaft mounted in said enlarged end of said tubular member, an antifriction bearing for said shaft mounted in the other end of said tubular member, and

3. A combined guide and support for band saws, comprising a frame, means carried by said frame for guiding the run of a band saw, a backing wheel for engaging the rear edge of said saw, and means can ried by said frame for rotatably supporting said wheel, comprising a tubular member mounted in said frame and adjustable longitudinally therein, a shaft within said tubular member and a ball bearing for said shaft in each of the opposite end portions of said tubular member, said shaft projecting at one end beyond the corresponding end of said tubular member and having said wheel mounted on said projecting end,

said tubular member having an opening therein for supplying lubricant to said bearings, said opening being normally closed by said frame and being adapted to be uncovered upon longitudinal movement of said tubular member in said frame, substantially as described.

A combined guide and support for band saws, comprising means for guiding the run of a band saw, a backing wheel as sooiated with said means for engaging the rear edge of said saw, and means for rotatably supporting said wheel, comprising a tubular member, a shaft within said member, anti-friction means between said shaft and member, said shaft project-ing at one end beyond the corresponding end of the tubular member and having said wheel mounted upon said projecting end, said wheel having a hub portion provided with a recess to receive said end of said tubular member, and a cap fitted to the other end of said tubular member, substantially as described.

5. A combined guide and support for band saws, comprising; means for guiding the run of a band saw, a backing wh el associated with, said means for engaging the rear edge of said saw, and means for rotatably supporting said wheel, comprising a tubular member, a shaft within said memher. and projecting at one end beyond the corresponding end of the tubular member, said backing wheel being mounted on said projecting end of the shaft, a pair of spaced ball bearings interposed between said shaft and tubular member and arranged adjacent the ends of the shaft, the projecting end of said shaft having an enlargement engaging the adjacent bearing, a sleeve surrounding said shaft between said bearings for maintaining them properly spaced, a nut on the end of the shaft within said tubular member engaging the adjacent bearing, and means closing the adjacent end of said tubular member, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

CLINTON G. VVILDERSON. 

